Dead-end

//ˈdɛdɛnd// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A road with no exit.
"We turned into the street and realised it was a dead-end."
2
A position that offers no hope of progress. broadly, figuratively
"Mary realised her relationship with Jim had hit a dead-end."

Verb

1
To come to a dead-end. US
"Watch out! The road dead-ends in 200 yards and there's nowhere to turn around!"
2
To come to nothing; to reach a hopeless situation. broadly
"Dumas' tangle of unrequited, misplaced and dead-ended love"

Adjective

1
Going nowhere; blocked.
"a dead-end street"

Adjective

1
lacking opportunities for development or advancement wordnet

Synonyms

blank blind cecal closed constricted contracted

Example

"He was trapped in a dead-end job."

More for "dead-end"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.